Olds, Cerveny take on new coaching roles

Bocopreps.com

Bob Olds has always found meaning in the game of basketball. After tragedy struck his family a little more than a year ago, it was even therapeutic.

Olds and Tyler Cerveny are the latest basketball minds to change scenery and accept new coaching roles in the St. Vrain Valley School District. Olds is taking over the Skyline boys program after Cerveny departed to take over the girls program at Erie.

“We’re going to work our butts off and get better,” Olds said after leading his first open-gym workout with the Falcons Tuesday.

Olds has been a longtime assistant on the local hoops scene, going through stops such as Centaurus and Silver Creek. He’s also been a coach for the club team, the Colorado Titans, and used to be a basketball official.

He said he’d recently taken some time away from the game in wake of the death of his niece Rikki Olds, the 25-year-old who was killed in the shooting at the Table Mesa King Soopers in March of 2021.

“I took the winter off and was taking this spring and summer off from the Titans, then the Skyline job came open,” Olds said. “For me, it’s a good thing to get back into coaching and get back out there. The gym for me is a sanctuary.”

Olds said he’d previously applied for coaching openings at Monarch and was a finalist for the Boulder job after former coach Riley Grabau left in March of 2020.

Hearing about the Skyline job, he said he was encouraged to apply by the school’s girls coach Jason Maguire. The two have a connection through their time spent at Lyons.

“I’ve known Jason for a while, so I texted him to ask if he was going to apply for the job over there,” Olds said. “He said, ‘No, I’m going to stick with the girls, but I think you should apply for it.’”

Olds’ hiring followed Cerveny’s departure to take over the girls program at Erie. The craftsman who built up the Falcons and led them to three winning campaigns in his seven-season tenure is looking to provide some stability for a team that has seen three different head coaches in the past three years.

“The Erie girls job is an elite program,” Cerveny said. “I’ve watched them. These girls’ demeanor, competitiveness is elite. Right away that was a draw.”

Cerveny admitted leaving the Falcons was an emotional decision. He has two daughters who are expected to go through Erie, which also factored into his decision.

For his first season with the Tigers, Cerveny said he believes the team will be competitive in every game. Last winter, they finished 7-17.

“I’ve already had six or seven workouts with them, and I fully expect a competitive team that wins ball games,” he said. “They’re showing up, working hard, they’re skilled, they’re talented. I think there are good days ahead for Erie girls basketball.”